The Old Man - Magothy River

1 the old man The Monthly Newsletter of the Magothy River Sailing Association Margaret Burri, Editor February 2018 Commodore s Comments What do we know about the Magothy River ? We know that it is a beautiful River for sailing and racing. We also know that there are some wicked sandbars to surprise us if we don t pay attention to the navigational marks. Did you know that the Magothy River is miles long and has a maximum width of miles? The River basin is 44 square miles in area.

2 The source of the Magothy is Woodland Estates Way pond at Chartwell, Maryland. Did you know that on a 1663 map, the River was labeled Magoty River and Maggoty River on a 1690 map, meaning a place without trees or a wide plain, or derived from the old English word maggot, which meant a fantastic notion or caprice. On the north shore of the Magothy , there are 19 navigable creeks and tidal ponds. Some are only accessible in a kayak or canoe. On the south shore, there are 12 navigable creeks and tidal ponds.

3 It would be fun to explore each one this summer. Have you ever explored Bohdal Pond? It s on the South Shore. What about Scheides Cove? To explore these ponds and coves with such interesting names, you will need your charts and maybe some bug spray. Please report back when you find them. Many of the creeks and tidal coves are named because of a project begun by the Magothy River Association (not to be confused with the Magothy River Sailing Association.) MRA, an early environmental organization, was formed in 1946, and is still working hard to help preserve the health of the Magothy River .

4 Magothy River Association is holding its annual meeting on Friday, February 23, at 7:00 pm at Anne Arundel Community College, CALT Building, Room 100. All are welcome. I know that you will learn a lot more about the Magothy River at this meeting. Peggy Peggy Poe 2017-18 Commodore, Magothy River Sailing Association It s All in the Family MRSA is always glad when families sail together. We are blessed with two generations of the Mullarky family who sail together, and who contribute so much to MRSA, and now we are happy to welcome a second generation of the lund family.

5 The MRSA Board unanimously approved the membership application of Jessica lund Nie and Edward Nie at the February Board meeting. Jessica is the daughter of Debbie and John lund , both past commodores of MRSA, and currently Fleet Captains for Cruising. Jessica learned to sail in the Junior Training program, and spent many hours cruising on the Magothy and the Bay. Jessica races with Mike and Annette Mullarky on Eighth Deadly Sin. Welcome to Jessica, Eddie, (and Rosie). And Speaking of We have a great organization, so let s share it with others.

6 Below is sample text to share with your neighborhood newsletter or listserv, or if you re a member. Help us share the love! The Chesapeake Bay is at our doorstep, and ready to be loved. Fishing, kayaking, canoeing, cruising or sailing are just a couple of ways to enjoy her. But sailing is my favorite. Sailing can be a competitive sport or a casual cruising recreational vehicle on the water with cheap passage and accommodations. Destinations on the Bay abound with wildlife and primordial vegetation.

7 The Magothy River Sailing Association has both a cruising division and a racing division. If you are interested in learning to race, or to learn more about cruising, contact the or [Insert your contact info here] for details. For racing, boats vary in their level of intensity, where the learning curve is vertical and not for the meek. Other boats are more laid back. Don t wait too long to reach out because the boats fill up quickly. Smooth sailing. New Members Racers turned out in force for the Race Planning meeting at Ledo s Pizza on Thursday, February 15.

8 After getting a resounding thumbs up on the changes made last year pursuit races and longer series race committee chair, Dave Pruznal, polled the group about some other suggestions for this year: reverse starts and downwind starts. The first received only a luke-warm response; the other had enough interest for consideration. We discussed a couple of ideas to increase the number of racers, including the idea of including Junior Training students on our crews. For those captains who are interested, Mike Mullarky will play matchmaker; send an e-mail to Evan will coordinate on his end.

9 Racing Corner REMINDER: This year s program will run from July 9th to the 20th and priority registration for members start on March 1st. More information can be found at The cost for active MRSA and Grachur members is $280, with nonmember costs at $400. Junior Training Another idea was to create a flyer about how to join MRSA and sign up for Wednesday night races, and to send a recruitment e-mail to our neighborhood listservs or places like See the next column for some sample language.

10 A few housekeeping issues: Be sure that Jim Gary has the correct emergency contact phone number for you so you get race cancellations. And if you re going out of town and one of your crew is taking over for a race, please get the phone number to Jim, too. Since neither the MRSA Spring Classic, nor the Corsica Raceback, has happened for the last two years, we ll try a pursuit race the first week in May. When you are race committee, please check the gear early, especially shells and horns. Mark always has extra shells.